Armed yacht
This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2015) |
An armed yacht was a yacht that was armed with weapons and was typically in the service of a navy. The word "yacht" ("hunter"; Dutch "jacht";[1] German "jagd",[2] literally meaning "to hunt") was originally applied to small, fast and agile naval vessels suited to piracy and to employment by navies and coast guards against smugglers and pirates. Vessels of this type were adapted to racing by wealthy owners. The origin of civilian yachts as naval vessels, with their speed and maneuverability, made them useful for adaptation to their original function as patrol vessels. In the United States Navy armed yachts were typically private yachts expropriated for government use in times of war. Armed yachts served as patrol vessels during the Spanish–American War and the World Wars. In the latter conflicts, armed yachts were used as patrol vessels, convoy escorts, and in anti-submarine duties. In the United States, yachts were purchased from their owners with the owners given an option to repurchase their yacht at the close of hostilities.
History
Spanish–American War
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2015) |
World War I
Before the outbreak of war in Europe, there had been much discussion in the United Kingdom of a wartime role for privately owned
On the entry of the United States into the war in April 1917, a large number of motor yachts were acquired by the US Navy and Coast Guard. In the coastal waters of France, there was a considerable U-boat threat to the shipping required to transport and supply the
World War II
During
Some of these boats were armed with a .50 caliber machine gun in the bow and four depth charges on racks in the stern, although actually attacking a U-boat was probably suicidal. The lopsided battle would have conceivably ended with the U-boat using its deck guns to blow up the patrol yacht (since scoring a hit with a torpedo was improbable).[11]
The Royal Canadian Navy also commandeered and used armed yachts and other such vessels for anti-submarine patrols, having 12 of them.[12]
Notable armed yachts
Canada
- HMCS Ambler (Q11)
- HMCS Beaver (S10)
- HMCS Caribou (S12)
- HMCS Cougar (Z15)
- HMCS Husky
- HMCS Lynx
- HMCS Otter
- HMCS Raccoon
- HMCS Stadacona
United Kingdom
- HMS Adventuress
- HMS Evadne
- HMS Philante, after 1947 HNoMY Norge, the Norwegian royal yacht
- HMS Sumar
- HMS Tuscarora
United States
- USS Aloha (SP-317)
- USS Artemis (SP-593)
- USS Barnegat (SP-1232)
- USS California (SP-249)
- USS Corsair (SP-159)
- USS Cythera (SP-575)
- USS Dauntless (PG-61)
- USS Druid (SP-321)
- USS Galatea (SP-714)
- USS Gloucester (1891)
- USS Helenita (SP-210)
- USS Hilo (AGP-2)
- USS Isabel (PY-10)
- USS Jamestown (PG-55)
- USS Lydonia (SP-700)
- USS Margaret (SP-527)
- USS May (SP-164)
- USS Mayflower (PY-1)
- USS Montauk (SP-392)
- USS Nemesis (SP-343)-WWI USNRF Base Section 5 located in West Sayville, New York. One of the search and rescue vessels for USS San Diego sunk off Fire Island, New York on 18 July 1918.
- USS Niagara (PG-52)
- USS Noma (SP-131)
- USS Nourmahal (PG-72)
- USS Plymouth (PG-57)
- USS Rambler (SP-211)
- USS See W. See (SP-740)- WWI USNF Base Section 5 located in West Sayville, New York. She was one of the search and rescue vessels responded to the sinking of USS San Diego off Fire Island, New York on 18 July 1918. Later renamed Mar-Sue.
- USS St. Augustine (PG-54)
- USS Sultana (SP-134)
- USS Sunbeam III (SP-251)-WWI USNRF Base Section 5 located in West Sayville, New York. She was one of the three vessels from USNRF Section Base 5 that responded to the sinking of USS San Diego on 18 July 1918 for search and rescue.
- USS Sylph (PY-12)
- USS Venetia (SP-431)
- USS Vixen (1896)
- USS Vixen (PG-53)
- USS Wadena (SP-158)
- USS Wenonah (SP-165)
- USS Williamsburg (PG-56)
- USS Winchester (SP-156)
See also
References
- ^ Etymology Online: Yacht
- ^ Etymology Online: Jager
- ^ Davies, Charles (2013). "The Inception and Early Days of the Auxiliary Patrol". Retrieved 12 November 2016.
- ISBN 978-1848321830.
- ^ Dittmar, F J. "World War 1 at Sea - Ships of the Royal Navy, 1914-1919 - AUXILIARY PATROL VESSELS, Part 1, Yachts to Trawlers". www.naval-history.net. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
- ISBN 978-0850524055.
- ^ Dittmar, F J. "World War 1 at Sea - Ships of the Royal Navy, 1914-1919 - SUPPORT and HARBOUR VESSELS". www.naval-history.net. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
- ^ Husband, Joseph. "World War 1 - Contemporary Accounts - ON THE COAST OF FRANCE: The Story of the United States Naval Forces in French Waters". www.naval-history.net. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
- ^ "- YouTube". YouTube.
- ^ "- YouTube". YouTube.
- ^ "The Ships". 31 March 2014.